The present invention is generally related to information processing systems, and more specifically to a communications management system for use in conjunction with a personal computer.
Personal computers have proven useful for assisting a user in managing communications over one or more telephone lines. To be of maximum benefit such communications management systems should preferably include the capability of automatically placing and receiving telephone calls, in either voice or digital form, and the capability of receiving, storing, transmitting and relaying messages to and from designated parties, as well as other ancillary functions, such as the maintenance of an appointment calendar on which the receipt of such messages and expectation of future responses can be noted.
One drawback of prior systems intended to provide such features has been the necessity of keeping the host computer powered up at all times during which the possibility of incoming calls exists so that necessary signal processing and decision making with respect to such messages can be accomplished by the hardware and software of the computer. This reduces the service life of the host computer, and undesirably increases power consumption.
The present invention avoids this problem by providing a microprocessor-based system which is independently powered and capable of controlling the application of power to the host computer. The system is provided on a single plug-in circuit board adapted to be received in an existing and conventional expansion port of the host computer, and includes all necessary circuitry for analyzing an incoming message, verifying the messsage and taking appropriate action, including powering up the computer. No modification whatsoever of the computer is required.
In addition, the communications management system of the present invention provides for maintenance of the existing system status in the event of a momentary power interruption of insufficient duration to cause loss of associated telephone or other communications lines.
The plug-in circuit board of the system, in a preferred form, includes a user actuable circuit for initiating an interrupt sub-routine in the host computer. This may provide certain anciliary functions useful in conjunction with the communications management function of the system, such as an appointment calendar or a telephone list.
It will be appreciated that in addition to the communications management application illustrated herein, the auxiliary processing system can be employed for other purposes. For example, the system can be employed to continuously supervise a small plant or manufacturing process, wherein the computer receives, over one or more input channels, readings or signals representing parameters in the supervised plant or apparatus. If such a signal exceeds specified limits, the host computer is powered up and an interrupt is initiated by the monitoring system. In response to such an interrupt the host computer may employ further computation and adjustment in plant operating parameters, if necessary.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a new and improved communications management system for a personal computer or other small computer system.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a new and improved communications processing system for a personal computer wherein the system is continuously operative for its intended purpose and the host computer is powered-up only when required.